


What I'd do for You

by hatefulofsorrow



Series: Children [4]
Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Domestic, M/M, school problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatefulofsorrow/pseuds/hatefulofsorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU story where Jude and Zero are married and live in their new house with their 3 adopted children<br/>(/^▽^)/ :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,･:*:･ﾟ’☆</p><p>Ariel gets into some trouble at school and Jude comes to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What I'd do for You

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a very happy story. Nothing angsty or anything it's just not the fluff the other chapters were (well at the end there's a little). I figured we needed a bit of drama. (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و

Zero was playing capture the prince with his sons when he heard the car door slam shut twice. ‘Oh no’ he thought, ‘that means something happened’. The front door opened and he could hear the sound of his husband and daughter yelling over each other, which was a rarity indeed seeing as how Jude was Ariel’s favorite out of the two of them. 

“Here, you boys keep playing and Daddy’s gonna go see what all the yelling is about ok?” The boys nodded as they didn’t even notice the ruckus going on down the hall. Zero got up, closed the door to the playroom so the boys wouldn’t hear as much and headed to the foyer where the yelling was coming from.

“I just don’t understand how you could do something so reckless and irresponsible I mean did you even think this through Ariel?” Jude was standing straight and stern with his hands at his hips holding his jacket open.

“No! What she said is unforgivable and I wasn’t about to let that witch say what she wanted! She had no right!” Ariel said loudly.

“What in the hell is going on in her-,” Zero couldn’t even finish before Ariel looked at him and he could see her scraped cheek and already bruising eye. She met eyes with him and quickly looked away and down almost embarrassed. “Oh my god your face what the hell happened to your face?” He asked reaching for her but she moved away and continued with Jude.

“Yeah, no our daughter got in a fight today at school and in all honesty you should see the other girl because Adrien Broner over here almost broke her nose.” Zero looked at Ariel with raised eyebrows almost impressed by the small girl’s fight. 

“NO! Don’t you dare encourage her.” Jude raised a finger at Zero and then back at Ariel “YOU had no right to do what you did. All for what? Because she made a few nasty comments?!”

“NO ONE GETS TO TALK ABOUT YOU THAT WAY!!!” She screamed. “I’ll never just sit back and let someone talk about you and Daddy like that. Never. Especially you Dad. The things she said about you. I wanted to choke her! She’s lucky someone pulled me off her when they did. No one gets to call you that or say those things.” By now Ariel was looking at the floor fighting back tears and trying to stand her ground in front other father and suddenly Zero understood the situation at hand.

“You think I haven't heard those things before?” He asked calmly. Ariel looked up as a tear streamed down her face. “You think I haven’t heard worse or been called worse? My own father has done and said worse to me. But you can’t react that way. I expect better from you. I couldn’t care less about that little girl but you know better because I taught you better. Now go to your room.”

“But Dad I just-” “NOW” Jude raised his voice interrupting her. Zero had never heard Jude raise his voice like that. Out of all the shit they had been through nothing upset him the way this did. Zero gave Ariel a small smile and rubbed her shoulders as he motioned her to head upstairs and Jude headed towards the kitchen. Zero followed behind him. “Don’t you think you were being little-” before he could finish Jude threw him an ice pack wrapped in a washcloth.

“I don’t want to discuss this right now so go hold this against our daughters face.” He said and headed towards the study. 

That night the school’s Principal had called and a meeting was set up between both children and their parents for the following afternoon.

Jude sat at the foot of the bed as Zero came out of the bathroom drying his hair. 

“They want to press charges.” He said solemnly. “I knew this would happen. The Mansfields may not care a lot about their children but they do care about appearances and they certainly weren’t just going to let this slide. I just can’t believe she’d be this reckless now. This will ruin her future you know?” He said looking up at Zero. “I want her to have every opportunity in this world. You think an Ivy League college will touch her with an assault charge?” 

“No they definitely will not. Is that what you want for her? An Ivy?” Zero asked.

“It’s not that I’d like her to go to an Ivy but I want her to have the option. I want her to choose what she wants and close the doors to other opportunities herself. Not have them slammed in her face.” Jude said looking concerned. 

“I can skip practice tomorrow. It’s probably best if I go right?” Zero walked over to his husband.

“No, I should do it. We need to appease them if possible. The last thing we need are enemies at this school. You should be available if the twins need something, and besides, I’m the better negotiator.” He said not looking at Zero.

Zero sat on Jude’s lap and leaned over, “You sure you’re the better negotiator? I got you didn’t I?” He asked as he wrapped his arms around Jude’s neck.

Jude scoffed, “Only after meeting all of my demands.” He raised one eyebrow mischievously and gave a sideways smile that quickly faded. He buried his head in his husband’s broad chest and almost whispered, “This has to be ok.” Zero hugged him tightly and answered, “It will be. We’ll protect her.”

 

Jude and Ariel arrived first and as the Mansfields walked in Jude swallowed hard and thought ‘We’re doomed’ upon seeing Margot, their daughter. Her face was bruised and her nose was bandaged up. Jude stood and gave his nicest business smile as he shook Mr. Mansfield’s hand and was ignored by Mrs. Mansfield. The Principal sat at his desk and began.

“As you know we have a zero tolerance policy for fighting. I don’t think it’s beyond reasonable to consider expulsion considering the state of young Margot’s face.” He said hands folded in front of him. Jude’s blood ran cold and Ariel looked shocked. This is what he was afraid of.

“N-now I agree that fighting shouldn’t be tolerated but I think expulsion is a bit extreme. We’re already well into the second semester and she’s a freshman. Besides they fought each other.” Jude tried to reason with the Principal.

“While Ariel does have a black eye, we spoke to Margot and she says everyone there can attest that it was merely in self defense. Margot was simply a target for Ariel. They’ve been at odds since the semester began.” Mrs. Mansfield said as she looked down at Ariel. 

“Now I’m sure there’s some agreement we can all come to that wouldn’t let this get further out of hand. Our biggest concern here is the future of our children and we all want what’s best for them so please lets just take a second and talk about this.” Jude attempted to placate the room. 

What Mrs. Mansfield said bothered Jude. ‘Since the semester began’ he thought. He wracked his brain as Margot, even with the state of her face being what it was, did look familiar to him. And suddenly it dawned on him.

\--He and Zero both took the morning to drop Ariel off the first day the semester started. They were sitting in their car and Zero was smiling brightly as they watched Ariel walk up the stairs into the building. Once she was out of sight he grabbed Jude and kissed him deeply in the parking lot surrounded by people. “Zero stop,” he giggled as he hit Zero’s chest playfully. He looked up and a girl was watching them. Jude waved and smiled awkwardly completely mortified. “Look people are staring at us so lets go home.”--

Jude realized it was Margot who had seen them. He turned to Ariel and whispered, “Has this been going on since the semester started?” Ariel looked like she had been caught and looked away. All those days when she had come home in a bad mood only to be completely fine moments later hugging him tightly and telling him how much she loved him made much more sense to Jude. He wasn’t even paying attention to the flow of conversation anymore but his attention was reclaimed by Mr. Mansfield’s deep voice.

“I think ariel would be happier at a different school. Given her unique particular background and home situation I think it would be best for her to attend school elsewhere. Mr. Kinkade, I think this is a blessing in disguise. She’ll be more comfortable in a different school and by us pressing charges you’ll be able to teach your daughter some manners, humility and the importance of taking responsibility for her actions.” He said cooly.

Jude looked around at the stuffy office. He hated this overpriced private school but it would ensure the best education and had a prominent reputation amongst many different colleges. With her history in foster care, Zero’s past philandering with prostitutes and them both being male it took every connection Jude had to get her into this ridiculous school. 

Jude tried to placate them. He entered that office with every intention of trying to appease everyone involved and beg on his hands and knees for them to spare his daughter’s future. He even sat slightly hunched over to make himself seem smaller and less threatening to give them a feeling of superiority. But it was clear no one there had even spared his daughter a considerate thought. His knuckles were white from gripping the armrests of the chair so tightly in anger.

He tried to handle this the way a good person would, but he took a deep breath and cracked his neck. He straightened his back, broadened his shoulders and right before everyones eyes he became the blood thirsty monster Oscar’s blood had bestowed in him. Repositioning himself in his chair he raised his eyebrows and looked down at everyone around him. 

“If Ariel is expelled I demand Margot be expelled as well.” He said with eyes iced over and unyielding. “Now Mr Kinkade-” The Principal tried to respond but Jude raised his hand to stop the man and simply continued politely, “I am not done so you will wait.” 

Everyone looked on as if another person had entered the meeting. “Would you like to know why your daughter was punched in the face repeatedly?" He asked Mrs. Mansfield and then directed his attention to Margot. "You wanna tell them what hateful bigoted names you called my husband and I or should I?” He said looking at her devoid of any politeness. “Wait a minute Mr. Kinkade you cannot speak to my daughter that way.” Mrs. Mansfield interjected. 

“I’ll speak to her however I please seeing as how she does the same since no one's bothered to teach her how to respect others. Would you like to know why they’ve been having problems since the beginning? It’s because as my husband and I dropped Ariel off one day we were sitting in our car together and kissed, like many loving couples do. Your daughter happened to see and has been making homophobic comments to my daughter since. So how about you teach your daughter to be a decent human being before making comments on how you think my daughter needs to learn manners.”

Mr. Mansfield looked at Margot who wouldn’t make eye contact but sat there looking ashamed.

Jude turned his body to face the principal, “Now, back to you, If Ariel is expelled and Margot is not then I will make damn sure that every applicant for this school from here on knows that, while you have a beautiful zero tolerance policy on fighting, you have a 100% tolerance policy on discrimination and bigotry. I won’t even need to prove it. Once an allegation like that is made you’ll never make everyone believe it wasn’t true. No matter how much you polish and polish this place there will always remain a piece that’s tarnished deep inside the minds of those who doubt you. This institution will never be respected as it is now and I’ll bring it to it’s knees if I have to.” 

The principal turned pale and Jude turned his attention back to the Mansfields. 

“About these assault charges you think you’re going to file. We’ll be filing our own in that case. It’s very clear that Margot hit Ariel as well and while you can find 10 witnesses that say it was self defense I’m sure I can find 20 that say it wasn’t and maybe even that your daughter threw the first punch. That in addition to her homophobic comments will mean that her charge will also come with a hate crime attached. I’ll be pushing for the harshest punishment available too, and you can watch her future and your family name go down the drain. I’ll make sure this is a blow your family can never recover from.” Jude continued, not giving anyone an inch of room to speak. 

“You may be a prominent stockbroker and come from a very well respected family, but my husband is a top ranking two time national championship winning professional athlete and I am Vice President of the top nationally ranked basketball team in the United States. If you think you have more money or support than we do..” He chuckled “Then you are sadly mistaken and, unfortunately a bit naive.”

Jude now leaned over just the slightest and unblinking with a tone that seemed to drip poison said, “I will not let you railroad MY daughter and so help me I will make sure you pay ten fold for every grievance done to her even if I have to get dirty and drag you through the mud myself. We can all go down in flames together and I’ll light the match right now…OR…” He took a breath and composed himself.

“We can all look past this. What will it be?” He said sternly.

Jude looked around as everyone sat there unmoving or speaking. Even Ariel was shocked that her lovely father was capable of making such threats. She had honestly thought if one of them were going to be called vicious that it would be Zero but this side of Jude was something she couldn’t have even imagined. 

 

“What happened?” Zero greeted them at the door. It was already almost 5 but he had taken the afternoon off. 

“Dad handled it.” Ariel said.

“Good! Then everything’s good! That’s great babe.” Zero reached towards Jude who turned away from his husband’s touch as he looked down and took off his jacket loosening his tie.

“No it’s not. I threatened to ruin a little girl’s life today. I threatened her family and that entire school and you know what, if our children were in trouble i’d do it all again but that doesn’t make it good.” Jude looked disgusted with himself but turned to Ariel who was in the kitchen getting a glass of juice. “The way you handled that situation was wrong and I don't appreciate being put in that position.” He said coldly to her and turned away to head upstairs. “I need to lay down.” He said softly. 

“What the hell happened?” Zero asked Ariel.

“He broke every single one of them,” she said and hesitated before continuing, “I’ve been scared of my foster homes before but that was different. It was unsettling like this darkness was creeping up from the floor and swallowing him whole. I’ve never been scared of Jude, but today…I was. Is…Is that who he really is?”

Zero looked at her and opened his arms. She leapt in and hugged him tightly. “Your Dad was hurt in different ways than us. Oscar was a different kind of monster and the only way your Dad knew to survive was to become part of what terrorized him. He isn’t like him though. He tries to do the right thing but he’ll get his hands dirty if he needs to. If he feels like there truly is no other way then he’ll use that wounded hateful part of himself and do what he has to. Today he did that for you. We both love you so much there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for you and your brothers. Even at the expense of ourselves.” 

Zero hugged her tightly and let her go. “I’m gonna go make sure he’s ok. Keep an eye out for your bothers. They’re watching something but I know they’ll be bored in a minute.” He kissed her head before heading upstairs to see his husband. 

Jude laid on the bed hugging a pillow. He didn’t look when the door opened and Zero came in to sit down beside him and play with his rich brown hair. “I know,” he said leaning over kissing Jude’s hair. 

“I’m fine. I’m not that weak I just feel a little…dirty right now, but it’ll pass. It always does.” Jude said, staring at the wall. 

Zero caressed his back, “You’re not him.”

He continued to stare at the wall. “I scared her and I set a bad example because you can’t just threaten people to get your way. I guess I just…right now I don’t feel like a very good Dad is all.” Jude confessed.

“You know as much as we kid, sometimes I really do think you’re stupid,” Zero teased as he kissed his husband’s shoulder. “Who rescheduled a multi-million dollar contract to see our daughter at her ballet recital? Who went out in the pouring rain at 2AM when the twins were sick just to get their favorite cherry flavored cough drops? Who took an online calculus and algebra class when the school called wanting to place Ariel in that advanced math class? You’re everything BUT a bad Dad and you feeling this way right now is just another example of that.”

Jude finally turned to make eye contact with Zero, who leaned over and once again in a soft, gentle most loving voice he said, “You’re not him.” 

Jude looked up at Zero with eyes full of self doubt and touched Zero’s face tracing his eyebrows lightly with his fingertips and caressing his cheek leading down to his lips. 

“Even if I become that you’ll pull me back right? You’re my anchor to everything good in this word after all.” Jude continued tracing Zero’s chin through his facial hair. 

“I’ll never let you get that far because you're my anchor too.” Zero answered as he kissed Jude’s lips softly. He laid down and wrapped his arms around Jude. JJ and Elliot burst into the room and JJ screamed, “No fair I want to sleep with Dad too,” as he climbed onto the bed and jumped on Jude. Ariel stood in the doorway and lightly said “Sorry, they really didn’t like that movie.” Ariel and Jude made eye contact and Ariel could feel her heart ache. 

She walked over to Jude and knelt down next to the bed. “Thank you, Dad,” she said as she held his hand. “Thank you for everything you did for me today.” 

Jude smiled and pulled her onto the bed next to him exchanging his pillow for his daughter. "Thomas is gonna love this black eye. I bet he'll think it's really attractive," Jude teased. "Hey!" both Zero and Ariel protested, though for very different reasons.

Elliot was laying on top of Zero while JJ tried to fight his way in-between his fathers. “Ok that’s it,” Zero exclaimed as he pretended to lay on JJ who giggled screamed.

Zero managed to get closer to Jude and they made eye contact through the chaos and smiled at one another. Jude grabbed a pillow and hit Zero who looked shocked and offended. Jude smiled even bigger as Zero grabbed the pillow and returned the attack. The rest of the evening was spent playing and laughing, though that wasn’t much different from any other night.


End file.
